Pokemon! On The Road!
by hangingwillow
Summary: Follow cousins Sally and Jasmine through their own Pokemon adventure! After both successfully become champions of the Grand Festivals for Top Coordinators, where will their journey take them when they've already reached the top?
1. Prologue

**Pokémon! Version 0.1**

**On The Road**

**Prologue**

A man stood by a large window, looking out onto large vast city that was bustling with daily morning routines. His room was dark, and the only light that illuminated the space was from that very window, until two men pushed the large double doors open and scurried inside.

"Tony sir, we've captured all the Pokémon you have requested." Tony turned around and in the light revealed a young looking man, with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He had a slightly built figure, and was wearing a skinny suit combining the colours of black and purple.

"And where actually have you placed all my Pokémon?" He questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

"In the inner sanctum sir." One stammered. He was a younger boy with messy black hair, and his uniform hung loosely on his skinny body. "We must relocate soon though, the trainers will contact Officer Jenny soon enough. They'll find us here."

"Enough." The boy zipped his mouth and stepped back beside the other boy that came with him to deliver the message. Tony paced around the room, deep in thought. "Move out to the Saffron hideout. Gym Leader Sabrina is back from her trip and everything is on tight security after we had infiltrated Sliph Co. They'll least expect us to go back there. We'll leave at first light tomorrow."

"Rodger that sir." The two boys rushed out of the room as Tony slumped into his large office chair. His Ninetales trotted over and lay down beside him. Its beautiful red eyes pierced into Tony's as they seemed to share inner thoughts with each other.

"Yes Tiffany, we're moving again." He paused for a bit. "No, we can't even tell Stephanie about this. We can't bring her into this."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One (Jasmine's POV)**

Lights. They shone brightly on the stage I was standing upon and a few meters away stood my rival, Gina. She held her stance and waited for the announcer to make the call. My heart pounded against my chest, with friends and family screaming in the stands. The stadium was huge, and at night it was beautiful. But, I must not think of that now. I must focus.

"The coordinator that manages to knock their opponent's points to zero or until either opponents Pokémon have fainted by the time the five minute time limit has concluded, they will be crowned the grand festival winner! They will receive this gold trophy awarded by last year's grand festival champion Sally! And the title of this year's grand festival champion!" The announcer looked back at the three judges sitting behind the judging table and waited for their consent to begin the battle. "Let the battle begin!" She screamed.

"Go Tangrowth!" Gina yelled, throwing her Pokéball onto centre stage. Hearts sprouted out of it when her Tangrowth appeared. Ew. It was so ugly. Tangrowth began wiggling its little string like things on its body around. Oh my, it's like Medusa. It retracted them back into its body and awaited my call.

I did a little spin on the spot and pulled out my Pokéball. It enlarged in my hand and I threw it out on stage. "Eve, do your thing!" My little Eevee popped out amongst flares that came out from the seal I placed on the ball capsule the night before. She landed with a soft patter and did a little cry before getting into her usual battle stance.

"It's Tangrowth versus Eevee! An unusual matchup for these two competitors." The announcer commentated on our performance.

"Tangrowth use vine whip!" Tangrowth's vines began to come out of its body and zoomed across the stage towards Eve.

"Eve, dodge! Then use tackle attack!" Eve back flipped out of the way from Tangrowth's vines, and whilst it was retracting the vines back into its body, Eve raced across the stage with lightning speed and tackled into Tangrowth, knocking it back against the wall of the stage.

"Ouch! And Tangrowth gets a whopper hit! And so do their points!" I glanced up to the large screen with our pictures on it and underneath was a circular bar that was yellow and contained our points. Gina's points fell dramatically due to the vine whip missing and Eve landing a hardcore attack on Tangrowth.

Tangrowth plucked itself back up from the wall and walked slowly back onto the stage. It already seemed to have sustained a lot of damage. Eve stood her ground and growled at the Tangrowth which towered over her. "Eve, swift! Then quick attack!" Eve spurted stars from her mouth and began to jump from one to the other, tackling into Tangrowth and then quickly avoiding her own Swift attack so those also hit into Tangrowth too. Tangrowth fell down, and attempted to pull itself back up.

"Come on Tangrowth you can do it!" Gina screamed, trying to motivate her Tangrowth to get up. She desperately glanced at the screen, where her points were already slowly diminishing whereas mine were untouched. She looked back at Tangrowth, who had barely managed to pick itself up again from two hard blows.

"Tangrowth looks exhausted from Eevee's combo attack, will it be able to pull through?" The crowd was quiet, focusing on our battle.

"Finish it off, Eve. Use flamethrower!" The crowd gasped.

"Eevee using flamethrower? That's new!" The commentator shouted into the microphone, as Eevee ran towards Tangrowth with flames bursting out of her mouth. Tangrowth slowly attempting to move to the side as Gina yelled for it to dodge it. I trained Eve solely on speed and elemental attacks, so she knows most attacks a regular Eevee wouldn't know. She pounced onto Tangrowth and burned it with her flamethrower. Once she got off and stood back in front of me, the smog cleared and Tangrowth had fainted. The judges all had X's on their panels, signifying that Tangrowth was out. The crowd was silent as the announcer lifted the microphone up to her lips.

"Tangrowth is out, and so this year's grand festival champion is none other than Jasmine and her Eevee!" The crowd screamed and screamed, cheering for me. I glanced over at my family and friends in the stands who were all laughing and excited for me. I walked over to Gina who was tending to her fainted Tangrowth and returning it back into its Pokéball. "What a battle guys! Jasmine completely took her opponent out, leaving without a scratch!"

"Hey, fun battle." I took out my hand and allowed her to shake it.

"You didn't even let me attack you." She chuckled. She got up and the announcer ushered me to receive my trophy. I bid Gina farewell and walked up onto the podium, as last year's champion and my cousin, Sally, walked towards me holding an enormous gold cup with a white ribbon tied around it. Eve leapt up into my arms as I took the trophy from Sally and held it up into the air. The crowd screamed.

"And that concludes this year's Grand Festival! I hope to see as many of you coordinators out there winning all those contest ribbons to get a place in next year's Grand Festival! This is your MC Mary, signing out!"

That night I stood by the balcony of the Pokécenter, looking out into the illuminated city beneath me. I was tired, my family had chucked a party to celebrate my win and now I guess I needed some air. Eve stood by me; she never went into her Pokéball unless she was going to be introduced into a contest battle. Sally walked up to me, leaned out and looked onto the city. "How does it feel, _champion?_" She teased.

"Not settled in yet." I laughed.

"Your opponent sucked." Sally chuckled. "How on earth did she even get to the finals?"

"I versed all the hard people before I got to the finals…" I muttered. "Eve had more of a workout with the previous coordinators than in the finals." I yawned. Hm, maybe I should go to bed. Getting sleepy…

"Bring out all your Pokémon, I want to congratulate them."

Yawning, I threw all of my Pokéballs out and they appeared in front of me with sleepy filled eyes. I was like an Eevee obsessed person. Eve's spouse Vin and her recently had eggs and so I had around three baby Eevee's running around before I gave them the Fire, Water and Thunder stones, so I have a baby Jolteon, Vaporeon and Flareon now. Sally all knelt down and patted all of them. I only used them three in the preliminary rounds so they wouldn't get hurt from the battle rounds.

"They're adorable… I wish my Pokémon could be that cute again!" She laughed. Sally was champion in the grand festival, and is due to verse the Elite Four in just a few weeks. We were really close cousins as we used to travel together when I first started my Pokémon journey. Now we all have different dreams and goals so we decided it was best for us to split. Plus, she has a boyfriend now, so now I'm just that much less important to her. I laughed at the thought.

"Okay Sal, I'm going to crash now." She nodded to me whilst playing with Vin. "I'm going to curl up with my babies. I giggled. "Come on Eve, Pourie, Flare, Jolt. Vin you can play with Sally for longer if you want." Vin sort of shook his head and Eve playfully nudged me before leaving with him. The other three babies all jumped onto me and I headed to bed curled up with all of them sleeping around me.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two (Sally's POV)**

I was proud of my cousin. Ever since she had learned of the contests, she wanted to participate. Every year before this, she had managed to get into the finals but did not emerge as the victor, saying that, I _did _defeat her last year – although I still believe it was an unfair match as my Pokémon at the time, were a much higher level than her own.

"Hey babe." My boyfriend, David of almost two years approached me and kissed my cheek lovingly. I glanced at him with a soft smile, looking into his light violet eyes. "Is Jasmine asleep?" He asked, hugging my shoulders. I nodded. "Bet you're proud of her."

"Ow my hair." I grabbed my long dark hair that I never brushed because I can never be bothered, was tangled around David's arm.

"Sorry." He apologized as I pulled my hair to a side so David's arm would not get caught in it.

"I am proud of her. Very! Although if I participated this year, she'd stand no chance!" I roared out laughing. David rolled his eyes. "No. She's grown since last year." I admitted.

"Your Pokémon are still stronger than any of her own though. So you are right."

"Not unless I use a different Pokémon." I pointed out. David shrugged. "I'm so excited for the Pokémon League though. Ah!" I squealed. A bright light streamed from my bracelet and out came a large Arcanine with black paws and dark blue eyes. It looked like he is wearing black socks. It was a unique trait for any Arcanine to have such markings – not to mention blue eyes. People immediately assume that my Arcanine's nickname was Sockie or Socksy… or any other spelling variations.

"Hey Blitz." David greeted my first Pokémon from when I was ten. Blitz barked at him and ran around us happily and stood up on his hind legs to lean his front paws on the balcony. David wrapped an arm over Blitz's shoulder.

"Are you looking forward to it too, baby?" I asked, smiling. Both David and Blitz nodded. I laughed. "I was talking to Blitz, David."

"Oh." He mouthed and then chuckled. I kissed him lightly on the lips and nudged his nose with my own. Blitz stuck his head in front of David and Eskimo kissed my nose as well. I grinned.

"We have to train hard, Blitz." I said seriously. He nodded and barked with determined and serious eyed. I laid a hand on his blonde fur on his head and smiled. "Training will begin tomorrow morning."

"Vitani, use water gun on Blitz!" I called out to my Gyarados who was in the Celadon City's lake, to attack Blitz. Vitani dowsed Blitz down with water. Blitz yelped and then growled, barking at me. "Well hey, I'm trying to train all of you so you will at least receive a 'normal' damage rather than super or critical with the attacks you're actually weak against. You should be happy!" I pointed at him.

"What are you doing?" A voice piped up behind me. Without turning around, I knew it was my cousin Jasmine.

"I'm trying to… increase my Pokémon's defense by attacking them with attacks that they are weak against. In a way, I'm trying to make them immune. But that's impossible." I explained.

"So basically, you're training them so they have no weaknesses?" Jasmine summed up. This time, I turned to her, baffled that she could reword my sentence in the first try when I had the ultimate trouble with explaining.

"You're good." I praised laughing. "But yes, that is exactly what I'm trying to do."

"And how's it working out?"

"Well, no matter how much I train Charcoal, water and ice will always be super effective because of her flame being exposed." I pouted. I looked over at my Charizard who was snoozing under the shade of a tree with my Rhyperior and Electivire. "With Blitz, it's gotten to the point where it's just like taking a bath with an extra push – but he still dislikes getting wet. He still gets critical damaged by Riley's earthquake and rock throws though…"

"Who wouldn't be hurt by an earthquake and having rocks thrown at them?" Jasmine asked, her eyes wide as she emphasized on it. I laughed. It was true, though. A lot of Pokémon take considerable damage from ground and rock attacks… "Well, what about Avian?" Jasmine asked of my Pidgeot. She was perching in the same tree my other Pokémon were under.

"Well, she absolutely hates being shocked, but she can tolerate it now. Not much paralysis as before we started this training." I explained. "Likewise with Vitani. Illu can't deal with Riley's earthquake either though. Riley's a big monster." I laughed.

"Hmmm…" Jasmine looked from each of my Pokémon as if trying to come up with another way of training them. I waited for anything she was going to say. But she just remained silent. I rolled my eyes.

"Vitani, ice beam that way." I pointed to my Pokémon that were slacking off. Vitani hesitated but complied a heartbeat later. A stream of light blue light shot towards the tree. The light crashed into the tree and ice particles as well as bark exploded in place. My Pokémon roared out of the ice and bark smog, looking angry as ever. They charged towards Vitani who backed off into the lake.

"Ahhhh!" Jasmine shouted sarcastically and hid behind me. I watched as my Pokémon collided. I was curious to see who would remain standing. There were rocks flying, water spouting, flame throwing and electric shocking. I could also make out Avian pecking my Pokémon on their heads and then disappeared as Charcoal knocked her down with her wing.

"This will take a while. Sit." I urged Jasmine to sit next to me.

"Are you just going to let them fight each other? They're getting hurt."

"I know they're getting hurt. I found that they also learn a fair bit by brawling with each other. They learn how to up their defenses without me telling them." I explained.

"…How many times have you done this?" Jasmine asked, arching her eyebrows.

"Many. At first, I didn't like seeing them fight because they always got along so well. But then I realized that they find their own defense strategies during their own fights. I let them implement them during battles as well. So, in a way, they get two types of training. One with their fellow Pokémon, and then with me."

"I should try that." Jasmine grinned. "Who wins?"

"Riley usually comes out as victor because his physical defense and attack power is extraordinary. Charcoal and Illu has their wins sometimes too." I chuckled.

"Nawww, what about Blitz? I thought Blitz was the strongest."

"Blitz is hasty and crazy with the other Pokémon. He's usually first to get wiped out." I laughed. "He's such a hard head. I love him."

"Me too! He's so cute!" Jasmine giggled. "Blitz doesn't learn anything, does he?"

"Well… Considering how he is always the first to get wiped out, not really. Although his agility is incredible. He's really good at evading." I smiled. "His physical attack is higher than his special though."

"I think your Pokémon are done." Jasmine laughed, standing up. I glanced over at my Pokémon. All of them were on the ground, huffing and puffing, but none had fainted. Who won? Who knows. I approached them.

"Who wants ice cream?!" I cheered. They all groaned. I laughed happily and laid my hand on top of Charcoal's forehead. "Come on."

Jasmine and I headed to the ice cream parlor with our Pokémon. People were watching us with interest for not many people walk around town with all their Pokémon out of their balls.

"Where's David?" Jasmine asked and she licked her Peacha flavoured ice cream cone.

"Sleeping." I informed, placing bowls of poke-block flavoured ice cream on the floor for each of my Pokémon and Jasmine's from our table. "He's always sleeping." I shrugged, taking my Oran berry ice cream from the waitress behind the bar. Our Pokémon were happily slurping and licking their ice cream and conversing with each other. Jasmine's Pokémon, compared to my own, were extremely tiny.

"Have you heard from your brother lately?" Jasmine asked, curious. I stopped eating my ice cream to meet her eyes. I shook my head. My brother and I used to travel Kanto together until one night, he suddenly disappeared. Occasionally, he would send me letters, telling me he was okay. But that was it. There was never anything on where he was, what he was doing, who he was with, or why he left. As his older sister, I will always be worried about him. I haven't heard from him in an entire year though. He disappeared over two years ago.

"Who cares about him." I forced a smile.

"Whoa! Sick Pokémon!" A skinny white man with sandy brown hair approached, praising our Pokémon.

"Thanks?" Jasmine said, feeling awkward.

"Battle with me." He said to Jasmine. I watched her with interest. Her eyes went wide and she pointed to herself.

"Me?" She gasped, surprised.

"Well yeah! Don't you own these Pokémon?"

"The Eevee and Eevee evolutions are mine." Jasmine said. "The other's are my cousin's."

"Oh. Then, I want to battle you!" He turned to me and pointed.

"Alright." I grinned. Blitz barked to argue. I looked at him. My Pokémon were not done with their ice cream yet. "After they finish their ice cream."

"Two on two alright with you?" The guy, Norman, asked. I nodded. "Is it alright if you use your Arcanine?"

"Errr… sure." I nodded. Blitz trotted into the park arena. There were a few people that had stopped to watch the match. Jasmine took the liberty to be the dictator of the match.

"Norman and Sally, two Pokémon each. First to run out of Pokémon wins. Begin!" Jasmine declared.

"Go, Luna!" Norman threw in a pink and white Pokéball and out emerged an Arcanine. This arcanine was physically smaller than Blitz. She also had pink bows tied to the blonde fur around her ankles.

"Nawwww, how cute!" Jasmine and I cooed at the same time before we giggled at our unison.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Norman asked. Luna howled with her tail wagging. Norman's Arcanine _was _extremely beautiful. Her coat was shiny and it appeared that he had given her a lot of beauty pokeblocks. Blitz however, was not fazed by his opponent's looks. Blitz barked at her. Luna flinched, seemingly taken back to whatever Blitz had said to her. She started growling. "Luna, extreme speed!"

"Blitz, use extreme speed also!" At once both Pokémon collided into each other and then back up to their owners in their attacking stance. One of Luna's eyes was shut. Blitz's tail was wagging insanely, showing his enthusiasm. "Use crunch."

"Evade him!" Norman shouted. Luna tried to keep up with Blitz's speed, but couldn't. Blitz brought his jaws down on Luna's back. Luna yelped loudly before trying to jump away. Blitz held on like as if she was a piece of steak. "Luna!" Norman cried, shocked and scared. "Return!" Norman withdrew his Arcanine and Blitz started to bounce around happily. "Dewgong, I choose you!"

"Blitz, come back." I said. Blitz walked back to my side and sat down as I pulled a blue great ball from my bracelet. "Illu!" My big bright yellow Electivire appeared. Norman gasped. "Come on, it isn't that surprising."

"I guess you're right. Dewgong, ice beam attack!"

"Shock wave!" I ordered. The special attack shock wave has a 100% accuracy hit, so I wasn't worried about Dewgong being able to evade it. Illu released her electric attack just as the ice beam rammed into Illu's face. It wasn't very effective though. Illu always gets vitani's ice beam in the face. Dewgong, however, was on the ground with static running through its body.

"Dewgong is unable to battle. Trainer Norman has one Pokémon left!" Jasmine shouted.

"Luna, let's go!" Luna reappeared out of her pink ball, seemingly with more HP.

"Heal ball?" I asked. Norman nodded. "Illu, thunderbolt attack."

"Luna, use dig!" the arcanine disappeared into the ground.

"Light screen, Illu." Illu used light screen to increase her defenses.

"Now, Luna!" The arcanine roared out of the ground and into Illu, the attack being super effective. However, Illu was still standing. Blitz started barking at Illu and howling. I watched as the two of them switched.

"Thanks for asking." I rolled my eyes.

"Uhh… Sally withdraws Illu and brings Blitz back in…" Jasmine said, surprised at my Pokémon. Blitz started to move on his own. He started to thrash Luna. Literally. He was using thrash.

"Luna!" Norman cried in panic, "Use giga impact!" Bad move. His Arcanine was already on the verge of fainting. Giga impact hits with recoil. Blitz's thrash subsided before Luna rammed into Blitz's side. Luna dropped to the ground, feeling the recoil. Blitz shook his body like as if he was drenched in water.

"Finish her off with return." I smiled. Blitz bounded towards Luna who struggled to stand. Before Blitz could attack, she dropped to the ground, whimpering. Norman gasped and ran to his Arcanine. Blitz sat down and howled happily.

"Luna is unable to battle. Norman is out of Pokémon, Sally and her Pokémon wins the battle!" Jasmine concluded the match happily.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three (Jasmine's POV)**

After the hardcore match between Sally and the guy whom I don't even remember the name of anymore, it was getting late so I hopped into bed, pondering on what I should do on my last day in Celadon City.

The morning rays shone through the curtains, causing me to wake up. Today was our last day in Celadon City before we moved back to Viridian City after the Grand Festival. Our family all stayed at the Pokémon center during this time and we decided to stay three days after it concluded to rest up before the travel back home. Sally also needed to get back to Viridian as the Elite Four is situated down there. I walked around the city with Jolt, Pourie and Flare as the other two lovey dovey couple decided to run off on their own. I trust them though, they wouldn't ditch me. Celadon is a really clean city, and it was almost in the middle of everything. I headed towards the café where I made some pokeblocks for the three babies to eat. By the time I had finished, it was already midday.

David walked into the café with Fearow looking for something. He saw me, smiled and skipped on happily over.

"Hey Jasmine! Congrats on becoming the new champion." He beamed.

"Thanks. You know that if Sal participated this year then she would've caned my ass." I chuckled.

"So, now that you're champion, what are you planning to do?" Good question… what am I planning to do?

"Well, we're heading back to Viridian City tomorrow… Sal's going to verse the Elite Four soon so she's got something to do. I'm actually not quite sure… rest up a bit?" I laughed. I really need to figure out what I should do. I'm going to be so bored… "Wait, are you coming with us tomorrow back home?"

"Nah, I've got to finish up work here. Remember? I worked at a merchandise stall at the Grand Festival. I need to help sort out the remaining stock and sell them somehow since the whole festival buzz is over." He looked around for a bit as the restaurant manager came out. She was a short, old lady who came out to clean a few dishes. "I'm guessing you found the person you needed to find here?" I looked at him suspiciously. "Since when did you dig old women?"

He roared with laughter. "As if I'd cheat on Sally! She's hot and can whip my ass in a Pokémon battle. The manager here was my boss at the merchandise stall so she probably knows where all the excess stock is hiding away. The faster I get this shit done, the faster I can follow you back to Viridian and so I can actually see my _real _girlfriend before she leaves to become the new Elite Four Champion!" He glanced back at the manager who seemed to be finishing up and heading to the house connected to the restaurant."I've got to catch my boss. See you later Jasmine. If I don't see you by tomorrow, then have a safe trip back home."

David then ran off to catch the old lady as I was left there with my three babies finishing up their Pokéblocks. After they were done, we took a step outside when Vin and Eve began to run towards us. Vin leapt into my arms while Eve started licking her three babies. I walked them all over to a nearby bench and sat down. Eve then sat on my lap and looked at me. I could feel that she was holding something solid. She took a step back and underneath her were four eggs. Man, stop reproducing guys! I'm really going to have a bunch of little Eevee's running around!

I hugged Eve and congratulated Vin. They all seemed happy at their big family. "Jolt, Pourie, Flare. You have more siblings now!" Jolt jumped around happily, uncontrollably sparking. "Whoa, whoa Jolt, calm down. We don't want to hurt anyone do we?" He understood what I said and stopped jumping around but instead rubbed himself on his mum happily. Pourie and Flare seemed too tired to care and they intertwined themselves together around each other and began to sleep.

Grabbing them two, I began to walk back to the Pokémon centre to get them into our room so they could sleep without me having to worry. I held the four eggs in my arms and hugged them to my chest so they could somehow incubate. Yeah, I have weird logic. I stepped back outside as the sky seemed clear and I thought I should try out the Cycling road here. I haven't had much exercise since the Grand Festival, so within a few minutes I was at the gate of the Cycling road.

"You need a bike to get past here." The officer at the counter said. I searched frantically for a store that sold bicycles, so I could buy one to also make my way back home faster. There wasn't any. Bummer. I excused myself and glumly walked back out of the station when I clumsily bumped into a tall figure. He was dark and I couldn't make out his face very well, but his figure looked a lot like someone I know…

"Oh, sorry." He muttered and pushed past me towards the cycling road.

I turned back around to walk back to Celadon but I yet again bumped into another tall figure. Damn, what's with me and my clumsiness today? I looked up and saw a guy who looked nineteen, with brown hair and green eyes. "Sorry…" I pouted. Stupid Jasmine, stupid, stupid Jasmine. This guy probably thinks you're a loser now!

"Nah its fine. Are you okay? You don't seem that happy."

"How did you know…?"

"Pokémon psychologist. I read the feelings of Pokémon so I understand why they are upset or something. It works just the same with humans." He chuckled.

"Well, I thought there was going to be a bike shop or something close by here so I could try out the cycling road before I went home tomorrow. Unfortunately there isn't though so I just have to kill time doing something else I guess." I looked back up at him for the second time. I mustn't of have looked at him properly before though because I started awing his appearance. He smiled at me and got out a Pokéball from his belt. He threw it up in the air as a Dragonite flew out.

"We can get you one." He beamed, getting onto his Dragonite. He patted the seat next to him. I smiled and got on next to him. "You have to hold me, or else you might just fly off."

"You just want me to hold you, don't you?" I teased.

"Yeah totally," He sarcastically joked. "I don't want anyone getting injured on my watch." I held onto his waist tightly, linking my fingers together so there was extra grip.

His Dragonite took off into the air, soaring right up to the clouds. I gasped at the sight. It was beautiful! You could see all the little towns below, as if you were staring at little cubes all scattered on the ground. His Dragonite must be really strong, because not just any Pokémon can learn fly, let alone carry two people. He was really sturdy too, and riding with him felt _safe._

"Next stop, Cerulean City!" He shouted, competing against the loud whooshing noises the wind was making as it whipped past our faces.

"Thanks… I haven't even gotten your name yet!" I screamed.

"It's Acel! What's yours?"

"Jasmine!"

"No problem Jasmine! I'm on my day off, so it's okay!"

Soon enough, a large embodiment of blocks were seen down below as Dragonite swiftly landed; flapping his wings hard to make sure we touched down onto the ground softly. Although the whole ride was smooth, I still somehow felt a bit travel sick. Acel jumped off and held his hand out for me to take it. What a gentleman. I stumbled onto the ground and held my stomach. He looked at me, worried.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just a little travel sick I guess. Never flown on a Dragonite before." He chuckled nervously, his face still filled with worry. "It's alright. I just need to walk I guess. It'll pass, don't worry."

"The bike shop is just over there, come on." He ushered me over to a two storey shop, where he opened the door for me. The bells on the door started tinkling and man wearing a white singlet and loose shorts walked in. "Hey Pops. It's been awhile." Acel called to the man, smiling. He looked up and grinned.

"Acel, my boy! Things been busy lately huh?" Acel nodded and gestured me over.

"I need a bike for this lady here. It's her last day before she goes back to her hometown and she wanted to try out the cycling road down in Celadon." The man excitedly nodded and rushed upstairs, passing all the beautiful bikes down on the showroom floor.

"Why is he going upstairs…?"

"My dad gets excited when he sees a pretty customer." He lent his arm on my shoulder and winked at me. I blushed furiously and shook his arm away, pretending to look at the bikes while his dad was still busy upstairs doing who knows what. Around ten minutes and a few sounds of clanking later, his dad was back downstairs with a bright blue, black and silver pearl bike. It had gear shifts that enabled you do to tricks or ride really fast.

"Oh wow. It's magnificent." I beamed. His dad brought it over and allowed me to inspect it further. "How much?" Surely this bike would cost a fortune; it's a freaking beauty after all.

"Originally, one million." I gasped, feeling my chest twist in pain as I wanted that bike _so badly!_ "But for you, free." My mouth hung open.

"You not serious?" I asked, frantically looking for Acel who… wasn't around anymore.

"Of course I'm serious! This is the first time Acel's brought a girl over! And this year's grand festival champion at that!" He ran over to his little desk which had the cashier on it and grabbed a camera. He ran up to me, placed the bike in front, put my hand on the seat and stood next to me.

"Son! Come here so your papa can get a picture with this young lady!" The door flew open, with the bells chiming. If he left… then wouldn't I of heard him?

"Coming." He swiftly plucked the camera from his father's hands as I shyly smiled with his dad grinning next to me. The flash blinded my eyes for a second, and when I regained my sight, his dad was shaking film in the air as a photo developed in front of my eyes. Grabbing a black marker from his desk, he shoved the photo in my face and handed me the marker.

"Please sign it!" He pleaded. I took it confusingly and quickly signed it. "Jasmine… so that's your name!" He took it from me and started waving it around. Twirling back towards the cashier, he took a pin out from a notice board and placed the photo on it before stabbing it with the pin. Admiring it for a few more seconds, he flew back to me with gleaming eyes.

"Thanks sir, but I ought to be getting back to Celadon before it gets dark. I'd like to soak as much Vitamin D up as I can! Thanks for the bike." I folded the bike up and threw it into my bag. I don't know how it fits along with many things such as countless rods, Pokéballs, berries, potions, TMs, etc, but it just does.

"Sure thing! Just make sure that whenever you pop by Cerulean, you have to come in and say hi!" Acel and I began to walk out of the shop when he started screaming again. "And Acel, you better visit your papa more often! He's growing old here!" Acel laughed.

"Don't worry dad, I'll visit whenever I have time off."

I waved to him as I mounted Dragonite with Acel once again and it pushed off the ground and began its flight back to Celadon City.

"Your dad is a nice guy."

"Yeah, he has to be like that or else the bike shop won't have any customers!" There was a bit of silence. I didn't admire the view as much this time since the first flight I was amazed by Dragonite's flying ability. I've only ever flown with Sally on the back of Avian, her Pidgeot and because she doesn't like flying right up to the clouds so much, seeing the view from a Dragonite was amazing, but still the same as sitting on a Pidgeot, only more zoomed out. "So, Jasmine. Grand Festival Champ this year. Who would've known I bumped into you. I didn't even recognize you without the costume and stuff."

"Oh those clothes get itchy. I prefer being in my normal clothes… a t-shirt and jeans. Something comfortable like that." I patted my clothing which was currently a loose grey t-shirt and cotton shorts. "How about you? Where do you work?"

"Um…" He pondered for a bit. "Viridian City."

"Really?!" I asked excitedly. "That's where I live! I never knew there was some sort of Pokémon psychology center there!"

"…there isn't…" He muttered.

"What? Are you one of those people who work part time in various jobs or something? Or are you a retired psychologist?" I spluttered out all these questions, hoping he could somehow provide an answer to them all.

"Nah… it's nothing…" He looked away. I guess I'm getting no questions answered. Okay, two can play at this game. "How about you? You're champion now, are you going to start training for contests to keep your title next year?"

"Nah… it's nothing…" I mimicked him, annoyed he didn't answer about his job earlier. I don't know why I'm so curious. I guess I'm stubborn too. He sighed.

"I'm in the Elite Four."

"WHAT?!" I screamed. Dragonite swerved a bit before getting its balance again. "Oh sorry Dragonite." I looked back at Acel, who was looking down. "_The _Elite Four?! The top four trainers in the country after the champion?!"

"Yeah… I'm the one before the champion. So if the other three don't knock the trainer out, then I usually wipe them out before they even get to Lance." I couldn't even say a word. This man, handsome as he may be- is a Pokémon psychologist, has a powerful Dragonite, allowed me to meet his father whom _gave _me a sick as bike, and on top of all that, is _the second strongest trainer in the country_! I can't seem to process this information all at once. Perfect boy!

"You know, my cousin's going to battle the Elite Four in a couple of weeks. She won last year's Grand Festival. Against me." I pouted.

"Ooh! I'll be sure to go super hard on her." He chuckled.

"Oh don't get cocky now! She's actually _really _strong!"

"Suuuree. We'll see about that." He winked.

Celadon came into view and we hopped off Dragonite before he was returned to Acel's Pokéball. He took out his own bike which was toffee brown and silver coloured.

"Shall we?" He hopped onto his bike and waited for me to pull out my brand new bike and get on it. "Let's go!"

We rode down the cycling road, which was actually really easy seeing as it was mostly downhill. A few trainers tried to challenge us on the way down, but I was too lazy to battle them and Acel didn't want to either, so we avoided them as much as possible. By the time we got to the end of the road, we were huffing and puffing from the adrenaline and excitement.

"Let's go again!" I shrilled as I hopped on my bike again, ready to pedal back up. Acel grabbed my shoulder and turned me around to look at him.

"Tomorrow… you're going back home to Viridian right?" He asked.

"Yep!"

"Can I come with you?"

"Can't you just get your Dragonite to fly down?" I questioned. It would be easier, of course. I would definitely take that option if I had it. Unfortunately Eevee's don't fly. And I have around nine of them now.

"I could… are you walking?"

"Yeah, well I could bike now since I have one." I beamed.

"Are you travelling with anyone right now?" Man what's with all these questions? Shut up I want to ride my bike!

"…and if I am?"

"…never mind." He just stood there half on his bike, fiddling with his Pokéballs that were resting on his belt. I thought I needed to cheer him up a bit because he looked a little lonely. I don't need to be a Pokémon psychologist to know that!

"How about this." I took two of the Eevee eggs out and handed them to him. He looked fairly surprised. "You keep these eggs. Look after them, and if they hatch, raise them. The next time I see you, you give them back to me. In return…" I searched for something he could compensate me with my two new babies.

"Ah!" I pointed at his Pokéballs. "You give me one of your Pokémon." He looked hesitant at first but then plucked off a Pokéball off his belt.

"He only hatched out of an egg last week. Still young, never really got time to train him yet though. I hope you'll look after him." I released the Pokéball and out came a Cyndaquil. He started shaking on the spot. "Yeah, he's really shy around people. Even me. Still not used to the world yet I guess."

"You given him a name yet?" I asked. I really, really wanted to name him.

"Nah I haven't. Got a name in mind?"

"Quiver. Since he's quivering and all." I laughed and knelt down to look at Quiver. I placed my hand on his head which wrapped around it since he was still so small. He stopped quivering and looked at me. I patted him softly and took him up in my arms. "Awww you little cutie!"

Acel watched me play with Quiver whilst he held the two eggs. He put them into a protective egg case and placed it into his backpack.

"Got a Pokémon navigator?" He got out his one and started tapping away at it. I pulled mine out from my bag and shoved it in his face.

"Sure do!"

"Give me your number, we'll keep in touch." I passed him my navigator as he tapped a few buttons and then at his one until he passed my navigator back. "Thanks."

My eyes trailed back up the cycling road, and as if reading my mind, Acel sped off in front of me shouting "Can't catch me!" the whole way up while I chased after him. We rode up and down cycling road four times, and I could really feel it in my legs afterwards. Night had fallen too, and flood lights illuminated the pathway, making it a so much better experience.

"Thanks for everything today." I exclaimed. "Who knew being clumsy would do good for you." He laughed and hugged me. I hugged him back.

"I guess I'll see you back in your hometown, whenever I have the time. There are too many people trying to be champion right now." He chuckled. I grinned.

"Including my cousin!" I shouted stupidly, twirling on the spot. I'm so immature for a seventeen year old.

"Don't worry, me too." He poked his tongue out cheekily.

Acel walked me back to the Pokémon center, where I curled up in bed with all my Pokémon. Eve and Vin didn't have their night stroll tonight, giving birth to eggs must've taken a toll on them, hehe. Tomorrow I have my long walk back to Viridian City. Why didn't I just ask Acel to fly me down? God dammit Jasmine!


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four (Sally's POV)**

When I woke up, Jasmine was gone and so were her Pokémon. She left no note, but I figured she would be close. She didn't have any Pokémon that could fly, nor did she have a bike to explore any further than Celadon City within a day. I curled into a ball and stared at my wrists where I kept my Pokéballs, 3 on each. I never took off my bracelets – only in the shower, but even then, they were never far. I attached easy pulling clips onto my bracelet and Pokéballs via soldering iron. One of a kind. I also have a necklace variety, but I use it way less often than the bracelets. While I admired my work of art, Blitz appeared on ground level and jumped into Jasmine's bed.

"Blitz, get out of there. Jasmine will get mad at you for molting on her bed." I yawned and sat up. Blitz wriggled out, making the bunk beds shake and then went on his hind legs, with his front paws resting on the top bunk. I placed my hands over his paws. "Good morning to you too, sweetie."

I headed to the cafeteria after I changed my clothes and brushed my teeth, to get something to eat. I gathered food onto a tray and then I headed to a spot that was close to a pool that was deep enough for my Gyarados to be comfortable.

"Yummy?" I asked my Pokémon that were happily eating their breakfast that was prepared by special chefs. From the corner of my eye, I saw someone very pink approach.

"Excuse me for bothering you." The lady started. I looked up to see Nurse Joy of Celadon City. I think.

"Nurse Joy, good morning. How can I help you?" I asked her, placing my fork and knife down.

"May I?" She asked, pointing to the chair opposite to me. I nodded. She placed her down calmly and smiled happily as Nurse Joys always do. "I have a favour to ask of you."

"Oh?"

"My sister in Cerulean City is having problems with a young Charmeleon." She began.

"Okay…" I said, to show her that I was listening. "So, what would you like me to do?"

"Not many people have a Charizard, and not as big and powerful as Charcoal, either." She smiled at Charcoal who roared happily at the compliment. "You see, she thinks the Charmeleon was abandoned and had been treated very harshly by its previous owner. My sister is having trouble controlling it. It doesn't listen."

"In other words, you would like Charcoal to … beat some sense into it?" I murmured, somewhat unsure of the mission.

"No, no!" Nurse Joy exclaimed, surprised at my language… or something. "Maybe just… have Charcoal show the Charmeleon that not all trainers are bad. And beating weaker Pokémon will not make it feel better."

"…I'm kind of unsure of what you're on about, but I will go down there anyway. I don't have anything planned." I shrugged, smiling. "How's it sound, guys?" I asked of my Pokémon. They all made a sound of assertion, even looking a bit excited. "Alright. We'll leave right after breakfast."

"Alrighty." I fixed my backpack on my back tight as Charcoal lowered herself so I could get on her back and sit above her wings. I chose Charcoal over Avian this time around because Charcoal was a lot more easier to ride than Avian. Avian also likes to fly low – whereas Charcoal loves flying higher than the clouds and feeling the mist in her face – which I find odd because mist is essentially water. Charcoal waited for me to get comfortable and then raised herself from the ground. "To Cerulean City!' I cheered. Charcoal whipped her wings and we were off the ground. Charcoal immediately flew herself into the clouds. I looked down and imagined falling from such a height, like I always do – but I'm sure, i never will because my Pokémon will never let me, at least I hope so anyway. I could barely see the makeup of buildings from the height we were flying, but Charcoal seemed to know where we were. After flying for less than ten minutes, Charcoal started to decrease latitude. I saw a Dragonite not far ahead of us that had already started to prepare for landing. On his back, were two people. "See, the Dragonite doesn't mind two people on his back, why do you?" I asked, nudging Charcoal's shoulders with my feet. I've wanted Charcoal to let David and I on her back whilst flying but it was always one or the other. Never both, otherwise she won't fly at all. Charcoal let out a little growl to answer – which I'm sure it was translated to… 'It's fucking annoying'. I ignored the Dragonite as Charcoal started to prepare herself to land in front of the Pokémon Centre. I held onto her neck tighter, feeling myself slightly hovering away from Charcoal's shoulders. She landed smoothly. "Great flying." I patted her shoulder. She grunted, pleased. "Can you fit through the door?" I wondered, pointing at it. She attempted with her wings curled around her but failed, smashing into the doorway with her legs and shoulders. "I'll let you out soon, Char." Charcoal returned to her Pokeball before I made my way into the Pokémon Centre. The centre was not very busy, and there were scorch marks all over the walls and tables. I walked over to Nurse Joy who was scrubbing the counter. "Nurse Joy?"

"Oh sorry." She gasped, lifting her head. "Welcome to the Pokémon Centre. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Actually, Nurse Joy from Celadon asked me over." I informed. Her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together.

"Ah! You're Sally! Welcome and thank you for coming on such short notice!" She exclaimed, looking extremely relieved.

"It's alright. So, the Charmeleon was busy, huh?" I chuckled, looking at the unusually smoky centre. Nurse Joy frowned, worried. "Is it alright?"

"I'm very worried about it. I'll lead you to it." She said and took the escalators down. I followed close behind, looking around…although there wasn't much to look at besides burn markings around the walls and floors. She stopped at a metal door. "He's behind here. We had to move him here because of the damage he was doing." As soon as she spoke, the metal door started to shake and behind the door, we could hear the Charmeleon attacking it with slash and probably flame thrower, along with tackle. "We didn't know what to do. He's so hard to handle. Butterfree used sleep powder a number of times but it's no longer effective. We don't know what to do. He's hurting himself physically and tiring himself out and we cannot heal him without hurting him even more."

"Tough. I wonder what happened? Where did you pick this guy up?" I asked, trying to get more information.

"We were tipped that there was a Charmeleon causing a ruckus outside of town. Officer Jenny went to see what was going on, and had to catch it with a rope. She tried using a Pokeball to catch it, but it's in so much rage that even pokéballs won't work." Nurse Joy cried, worried. "There was no one about when Charmeleon was found either."

"But… Nurse Joy from Celadon said it was abuse from humans?"

"It's a theory to why he's acting so angry towards us, but he's the same towards Pokémon too. We were hoping that it could be tamed by its evolution and my sister said you were in town."

"I'll… try my best?" I guess. I frowned. "Charcoal, out you come." I pulled her black ball from my bracelet and let her out. She grunted a greeting to Nurse Joy who gazed her, amazed at her size probably.

"Good luck you two." Nurse Joy said. I opened the door and was immediately hit with a flamethrower. I fell to the ground, covering my face.

"Gah! My hair and my face!" I cried. I hadn't had a flamethrower to the face since Charcoal was a Charmander! "Dammit!" Charcoal grabbed me by the collar to pick me up and then walked into the room. Nurse Joy closed the door behind us. She placed me back down and I went into my bag to grab wet tissues and started cleaning myself. Charcoal roared at the small red Charmeleon. Charmeleon roared back at her. Charcoal took a swipe at him. He fell and then got back up and used flamethrower. Charcoal blocked it with her wing and somehow reflected it back to him. Charmeleon hit the back of the wall. He then jumped back on his feet, raging. "What's wrong with him?" I asked anyone who could answer me, although I already knew that I wouldn't get an answer. Charcoal started grunting at me. I take it back. I won't get an answer in a language I can understand. "Charmeleon, did someone hurt you?" I asked. He opened his mouth for an attack, but stopped when Charcoal stood in front of me. I poked my head out from behind her wing. Charmeleon glared at us. Charcoal sat down, making the floor tremor. Charmeleon started pacing around without taking his eyes off us. Charcoal grunted at him and then let out a soft growl. Charmeleon returned the soft growl and then sat down also. I watched, fascinated at the two conversing. Suddenly, Charcoal got to her feet and roared. She looked angry, but the Charmeleon did not do a thing but watch her. "Charcoal?" I frowned. She started grunting at me. I couldn't understand her, but from her eyes, I could tell that she wanted me with her for what she was going to do. "Is he going to hurt anyone?" I asked her, cautious, looking back and forth from the two Pokémon. She shook her head. "Alright. I believe you. But if he does, you know I'll be the one getting into trouble." I told her. She nodded and grunted. "Okay…" I opened the door.

"How'd it go?" Nurse Joy asked.

"He needed a bit more beating up, it seems and… seems like he talked my Charizard into doing something." I said, unsure. "Do you have any doorways Charcoal can fit into?"

"Oh. Sure." Nurse Joy pressed a big blue button on the wall and the ceiling started to shift. I watched, awed and super impressed at the high tech Pokémon Centre. Can all of them do this? "What are you going to do?" She asked as Charcoal lowered herself. I climbed onto her back and onto her shoulders.

"No clue." I laughed. Charcoal gathered the Charmeleon into her arms. "I'll let you know how it goes!" I shouted just as Charcoal lifted herself off the ground and out of the centre.

Charcoal and Charmeleon continued to talk whilst I remained silent. Charcoal was following directions from Charmeleon and I found ourselves at Route 25, near the ocean and full of trees. I freaked out a little. Cluster of trees usually mean insect Pokémon… and I hate insects with a passion. They make my skin crawl. Charcoal landed in a clearing and I spotted an abandoned barn. I climbed off her and looked her. She was flaring with anger. Charcoal marched to the barn with Charmeleon and I next to her. I pressed my ear to the wooden door. I could hear groaning and painful Pokémon yelping. Without thinking, I pushed open the door. I stood in shock. There, in front of me, were two twin trainers with whips in their hands, and on the floor tied up was a man who was bleeding from being whipped. There was also a Machoke and Primape attacking a Charmander.

"Stop it!" I cried out.

"Oh. Look bro, the Charmeleon came back with backup." One trainer with a bandana on his head laughed.

"Welcome back, Charmeleon." The other guy, whom I associated with the nose ring, grinned. Charmeleon charged, using tackle. "Machoke, grab him." The Machoke grabbed the Charmeleon effortlessly. Charcoal started growling.

"Please, save my Pokémon!" The injured man on the floor cried out. "Charmander needs to get to the Pokémon Centre!"

"Shut up, you!" The bandana trainer kicked the man in the stomach.

"Charcoal, slash them into pieces!" Charcoal lifted herself off the floor and charged. She went for the Pokémon first, knocking them off their feet and into their trainers.

"Dammit, Machoke, use seismic toss!" Nose ring dude shouted.

"Blast burn them out of here, Charcoal!" I called out. Charcoal's body temperature raised which made heat waves visible to the eye. A big fireball formed in her mouth. The two trainers as well as their Pokémon froze in shock and horror before the fireball burst into them, shooting them out of the broken barn. I ran to the tied up man and released him. Without saying a word, he rushed to his injured Charmander.

"Charmander!" He hugged his injured Charmander and his Charmeleon stood by close. "Good work Charmeleon." The man laid a hand on Charmeleon's head. I looked up at Charcoal, proud of her. She also looked proud, and also touched. So touched that she reached for me and hugged me with one arm.

"Good work, Charcoal." I praised.

Whilst Lucus, the injured guy and his Pokémon was taken into care, I hung around the office to tell Nurse Joy what had happened.

"Oh my. How can anyone be so cruel!" She cried, shocked. "Those poor Pokémon. I'm glad the Charmeleon could talk to your Charizard. I can't believe we tried to contain him when he just wanted to go and help his trainer."

"Yeah." I murmured. Although, what I was puzzled about was _why _Charmeleon told Charcoal. Was it because she beat him? I'm sure there were plenty of Pokémon able to knock out the Charmeleon… like any water Pokémon for example… Or was it when Charcoal stood in front of me to protect me? Was Charmeleon touched by that? Or am I just babbling in my head? "I was glad to help. I'm sure Charcoal was too."

"Will you be going back to Celadon now?"

"Not yet. I want to visit Carlos. It's been a while." I smiled.

"Okay. Thank you for helping us out, Sally."

"It's alright. I'll see you later." I strolled out of the Pokémon Centre and headed for the bike shop where Carlos worked and also resided. He was an old man. He reminded me of my own dad. I tugged open the door. "Hello!" I shouted.

"Welcome!" Carlos appeared with loose shorts and a white singlet and gasped.

"Long time, Carlos." I greeted the old man. He bounded to me and gave me a tight hug. I've known Carlos since I was ten when I first left home. I always came to visit him when Avian first learned fly.

"Have you gone to the Pokémon league yet?" He asked. I laughed and shook my head. "Why not! You're overdue by at least 10 years!"

"You make me sound so old."

"Imagine how I feel!" Carlos chuckled. I smiled. "How have you been dear?"

"Fine. How's business?" I asked, wandering around his shop, looking at his bikes.

"It's doing fantastic!" He beamed. I stopped at his notice board.

"Do you know her?" I pointed to the photo of my cousin with Carlos.

"I sure do!" Carlos grinned. "She won the latest Pokémon Contest, you know! I was so surprised when I heard it on the news! I was so sure you were going to win again. And then I found out that you didn't participate at all."

"Yep." I nodded. "When did she come by?" I questioned.

"Umm… About an hour ago." Carlos replied, sitting down next to me, behind his counter. "Do you know her too?"

"She's my cousin." I informed. "How in the world did she get here?"

"She was with my son." Carlos grinned. "They make quite a pair."

"Jasmine knows Acel?"

"I think they're dating." Carlos chuckled. "I wonder how Acel finds time to date when he's in the league."

"Oh, is he now?"

"Oh! Yeah! Acel is working as one of the elite four now!" Carlos informed, beaming.

"Good for him." I smiled. I remember the small brown haired, green eyed kid that used to help around the shop with Carlos. I remember him looking at me with envious eyes when I first came here. He was 7 and I was 10. He was a tiny ass little boy. Quiet too. Haven't seen him since he was 15. "I was thinking of going to the Pokémon League sometimes soon. Think he'll remember me?"

"He wouldn't forget a pretty face like yours." Carlos teased. I laughed.

"You flirt." I smiled. "I'll see you around, Carlos. I'm going to go back before dark. I don't like flying in the dark."

"Visit soon, okay?" Carlos smiled as he saw me to the door.

"Always."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five (Jasmine's POV)**

Sally and I began walking at first light. We could have easily taken both Charcoal and Avian there like how the rest of our family took off on flying Pokémon to different cities in Kanto. We thought though, what's the fun in that? Besides, David was still hanging around fixing up the stall back in Celadon so by the time we got to Viridian, he should be done and flying down there on his Fearow. We also hadn't caught up in awhile which meant this was a great time to just walk and talk.

"So," Sally started. "Where did you run off to yesterday?" At this time the sun was just barely rising over the horizon and it was soon time to release my little pack of Eevees for their morning exercise.

"Went to cycling road, no biggie." I felt a bit nervous and conflicted about whether I should tell her about Acel. It wasn't anything, but I can already feel a 'love at first sight' thing happening, and it wasn't good. "You?"

"Got called up about a rampaging Charmeleon that just happened to be trying to help out his owner. Had to fly down there on Charcoal."

"Oh, where to?"

"Just Cerulean." Oh crap. I hope she didn't see me. "Visited Carlos too. Remember? The old man that runs the bike shop? I saw he took a picture with a stunning lady that looked exactly like _you._" Oh man... "Oh wait, it was you." She eyed me viciously and smirked. "So what _were _you doing all the way down in Cerulean with a _guy_?"

"Hahhaa.." I chucked nervously. "Well I bumped into him when I was coming out of Cycling Road, he offered to get me a bike so I went along with it."

"Dude, he could've been a freaking pedo for all you knew."

"Well I guess I was lucky he wasn't?" We were then occupied by a few wild Pokémon jumping out at us, but we both decided to run away since we didn't want to hurt them and because we were too lazy to. Actually, mostly because we were too lazy. When we managed to get out of the tall grass, we could finally talk again. "Okay I'm sorry Sal-"

"-are you two going out?"

"What?"

"Did he ask you out yesterday?"

"No, why?"

"His dad thinks you're going out. Imagine how disappointed he'll be when he finds out you two aren't." She roared with laughter. This was not the reaction I expected. I expected something along the lines of… a lecture.

"Well, he registered my Pokénav number…" Sally jumped up and down in delight. Okay, this is really weird.

"I know he's a good guy Jasmine. You don't need to feel so insecure about it. I knew him since he was seven because Carlos was like a father figure to me when I first started my journey. He comes from a great family, and obviously as you can tell he has to be a pretty hard working guy to get where he is now. I'm also pretty sure that you know hi-"

"-I didn't even say that I liked him yet!" I suddenly blurted, embarrassed. Sally stopped walking and looked at me. I tried to avoid eye contact with her.

"Well, you sound like you do."

"Sal, I met him a day ago. We hung out. Exchanged numbers. Be realistic here, I don't even know what he's like. He could be like this for every girl for all I know."

"Hmmm, true." At this point I was determined to change the topic.

"I told him you're going to verse the Elite Four soon. He says he's going to whoop your ass."

"We'll see about that. I know all his Pokémon, whereas he doesn't know any of mine."

"I can tell him." I grinned cheekily.

"You wouldn't."

"Okay you got me." I sighed, giving up. She knows me just too well. "A lot of people have asked me about what I'm going to do now since I'm 'champion'." I sighed.

"What _are _you going to do? I remember when people asked me that last year…" She chuckled. "I just said, I'm going to cane some more ass." I laughed. That's so Sally. Always determined to be stronger. Whereas… I wasn't interested in that so much.

"I'm thinking… of opening up a Pokémon Contest Training School. Thoughts?" I stared blankly at the sky.

"Sounds cool." She said. "Can you teach though?"

"That's a good question…"

By lunchtime we arrived at Saffron City. Sally and I were both starved from walking for so long, and my Pokémon were so bored they went back into their Pokéballs… to do whatever they do in there. Saffron City is always a bustling place, with heaps of people in heaps of big office buildings. One renowned business building would have to be Silph Co. I don't know what on earth they do in there, but to my understanding there should be something pretty darn good because a gang of baddies infiltrated it a few months ago. All of it has passed now, and a number of my friends have concluded it's safe to go back here.

Sabrina, the gym leader here was beaten by Sally only two months ago after she just got back from her trip. Sally enjoyed having rallies of winnings, so instead of going on a Pokémon journey to beat them all as her Pokémon grew, she just trained her Pokémon and then beat them all in one go. Not to mention she's trained a few more Pokémon before her six that she keeps with her now. The other reason why Sally took so long was because she's a lazy walker. She hates walking. Today was an exception.

Sally and I, who both really could not be stuffed walking anymore after doing so for about four hours, decided we should stay in Saffron for the day. We planned to stay at the Pokémon center here overnight and then leave again early the next morning. Plus, it'd give us time to look around the place since we haven't been here since all the ruckus happened with those bad guys. I seriously need to find out what they were called again.

We ended up deciding that it was best that we split up for now. She wanted to go see Sabrina and give her salutations whereas I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do with myself after I got back home in Viridian. After departing, I walked around the city for quite some time before I noticed a familiar building. 'The Pokémon Fan Club' was written on a sign outside of it. It was relatively smaller than all the other tall buildings around the city but I remember distinctly this was of importance to someone close to me…

Trying to ponder on who this person of importance was with my absolutely crap memory; I pushed open the door with a small creak. What unveiled inside was stunning- no words could describe it. I remember being in here once or twice before but this was only briefly and it was probably a couple years back. Way back before I even started contest battling, I assumed.

A chandelier hung from the high ceiling which cascaded downward into the center of the room. Lights gleamed all around it, creating beautiful shadows on the pale walls surrounding it. In awe, I took a step into the room before a lady who looked maybe a year or two older than me gleefully took my hand and led me in.

"Welcome to the Pokémon fan club!" She greeted, her eyes gleaming at me. "Are you new here?"

"I think I came here a few years ago…" I murmured as she flittered down to a computer near the entrance of building.

"Your name, please miss."

"Jasmine Kouch." As the lady tapped away at the keyboard, I decided to look around the room once more. I could not believe how amazing this place looked. It was probably fully refurnished since the last time I was here.

"We have a match, Miss Jasmine. The last time you checked in here was two years ago with your younger brother, Ryan." She looked around for a little bit. "Oh, in fact Ryan's here right now. He's quite the regular, comes here at _least _three times a week." Her words blurred out of my mind as I walked towards the young, scrawny boy she pointed towards.

I only saw my brother two days ago back at the Grand Festival but we didn't get to talk much. He was pretty much only there for moral support and not long after the festival concluded, he scurried off to god knows where and bam, I've found him.

"Hey bro." I lightly fist bumped his shoulder as he turned around and smiled.

"Hey sis. Been awhile." He stood up and was still slightly shorter than me. My brother was not incredibly tall, and he's blamed dad for that all his thirteen years of living.

"Dude, it's been two days." I cheekily replied.

"Long enough." He said, shrugging. "What brings you here?"

"Got bored. Saw this place and I guess I sort of remembered you bringing me here back when you were eleven. So this is your hangout?"

"Sure is. My Ditto enjoys memorizing how to transform into the different Pokémon that come in here. Plus, the people know me as a regular. You know I'm Vice President here now?"

"Oh wow. My little brother's all grown up!" I laughed. "Not really, you're still a baby in my eyes." He poked me in retort.

"I found a good paying job too. A proper one." I smiled approvingly at my brother. He was only a teenager but he was never great at battling or contests so he decided that he would go out and just work. He aspired to design something like the Pokémon Navigator like the company in Rustburo City in Hoenn someday, but he currently doesn't even have the funds to travel there since even flying Pokémon cannot fly across different regions. I guess he's working in Saffron now because it's one of the more technological based cities in the entire Kanto region.

"Wow. That's good. What is it?"

"I can't really tell you because the stuff's top secret and all. But the uniform is cool and if nothing goes wrong, the boss seems to really like me."

"Duh, don't all bosses like people who don't do anything wrong?" I stated matter-of-factly.

"True… but I feel like my boss and I… we have this connection? I don't know. You get what I mean?" Totally. I completely understand what you're half-saying. Not. "I think that if I keep up the good work, he might give me a pay rise!" He squealed excitedly. "At this rate, if I work there for one more year on top of being able to levy up being Vice President here getting the excess funds from outsider donations, I should be able to live in Hoenn!"

Ryan is such a great kid with big dreams. Most of them seemed unrealistic, but when it comes down to the crunch he can work hard for what he wants. I bid him goodbye about half an hour later, after catching up with life. I hardly get to see him anymore because of our difference in lives and yet… I still don't know what to do with mine.

Walking around a little bit more, Eve was finally released from her ball and she could take a stretch and walk about. She enjoyed my company, even when Vin wasn't around. Those two usually like to just walk around together when they were at romantic locations such as parks or beaches or just… whenever I'm not around. Suddenly, I felt a vibration near my right pocket of my grey shorts as I pulled out my Pokénav. Acel. I flipped up the screen and clicked the 'talk' button.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jasmine. What's up?" He sounded like he was in the air, since so much wind was flapping against the speaker that it was hard to hear him.

"Nothing much I guess. Walking around Saffron, you?"

"Can I come?"

"Sure, why not. Got nothing to do anyway." I shrugged. I didn't exactly fancy Saffron as much as I thought I'd like to I guess. It wasn't very entertaining.

"Awesome. I'll meet you outside the Pokémon center in five." I heard him shout to who I assumed would be Dragonite. "I'll see you soon. Bye!"

"Bye!" I clutched the Pokénav and slid it back into my pocket. Acel was so easy to talk to about things and even though I only met him yesterday, it's felt like years already.

I arrived at the Pokémon center not too long afterwards dawdling my way through the streets. I sat on the bench outside of it because Acel wasn't there yet and just as I was thinking that, his Dragonite plopped down almost right in front of me as Acel got off.

"Hey there Jas. Mind if I call you that?"

"Everyone calls me that, of course I don't mind." I walked up to his Dragonite and patted his head as he smiled and rubbed his head against my palm. Acel returned him into his Pokéball as we saw people start to form a crowd around us.

"Y-y-you're Acel!" One stammered, pointing. Didn't his parents teach him that it was rude to point? "You're a part of the Elite Four!" Everyone crowded in towards us trying to get an autograph from Acel.

"Sorry guys. No autographs or photos or anything today. I'm just hanging with a friend, if that's okay with you guys. Even I need my holidays once in awhile." As if everyone suddenly understood, the whole crowd dispersed and resumed their everyday activities. Facing me, Acel shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned. "So, where to?"

Since the last time I saw him- which was pretty much yesterday, Acel had spent the night with his father down in Cerulean catching up. He said he had around two days until he had to return back to the league and since he had nothing to do he thought he'd meet up with me.

"Hey… since you said I was meant to give them back to you the next time we saw each other…" Acel took out the egg case and gestured me to have it back. I pushed it back to him and shook my head.

"I didn't actually anticipate that we would _meet up the next day_! So keep it for longer, yeah?" Understanding, he carefully lowered the egg case back into his bag.

"So how's my dear little Quiver?" He smiled. I took out Quiver's Pokéball and sent him out. Scared, he started to flare up and then upon seeing me, he calmed down a little bit. I picked him up and held him out to Acel.

"Seems okay. He's still really shy though." Acel took him into his arms and Quiver began to snuggle into them, soon later, he began to gently fall asleep.

"Better than when he was with me." He chuckled as I returned Quiver back into his Pokéball.

Acel and I had been walking and talking for almost an hour now, and it was almost four in the afternoon. Soon, loud bells and whistles started playing to the familiar sound of Officer Jenny's siren.

"Clear the road! There's been a break-in!" She yelled. Everyone surrounding the area immediately felt scared, so they walked off following Officer Jenny's instructions. A little boy appeared in the distance in a fetal position, tears streaming down his face.

"M-my Pokémon…" He sobbed, rubbing his eyes with his fists.

"What happened?" Officer Jenny sympathized. Just as soon as she said it, a pair of masked men in purple and black ran out of a nearby building carrying a net full of Pokéballs.

"Go Jolt!" I screamed, throwing out my Jolteon. He shook his head and took a stance. "Thunder Wave!" Jolt ran up to the men and sent shock waves down them, which brought them to their knees.

"I… can't move…" One of them whimpered as he attempted multiple times to stand up and make his escape. The other one fought with his paralysis and reached for his belt, successfully pulling out a Pokéball and throwing it out. Officer Jenny stood up and called for her Growlithe to come forward. A Ditto appeared out of the bad guy's Pokéball, but it was a much larger version of one.

"Transform!" Dittos usually mimic their opponents Pokémon, but this Ditto changed right in front of our eyes… into a _Poliwhirl. _"Water gun!" The guy screamed as his Ditto- now a Poliwhirl ran up to Officer Jenny's Growlithe and began spraying water everywhere.

"Dodge!" Officer Jenny called as her Growlithe barely managed to avoid the shot of water. "Take Down Growlithe!" Growlithe ran at Ditto with great speed, but missed with a simple sway of its body. "Darn it!" Officer Jenny cussed.

"Ditto, use hydro pump." Ditto, using its new body blasted two large cannons of water out and hit Growlithe right on the face. Growlithe got blasted back right into Officer Jenny's arms, fainting. The man smirked, still in his paralyzed state on the ground.

I stepped forward with Jolt, while Acel tried to hold me back. "Let me handle this." He whispered into my ear. I shook my head.

"Jolt's already out. He wants some fun." Acel sighed at my stubbornness and allowed me to proceed. "Thunderbolt!" Out of nowhere, Jolt ran out, surprising the Ditto and hit him smack on the stomach. As if refusing to lose, the Ditto transformed once again, but now into a Golem. Damn, always transforming into your opponents weakness now aren't you?

"Ditto… self destruct." The Ditto rolled into the middle of the streets and began to brighten. _Oh crap. _I thought.

"Run Jolt!" I screamed, as he began bolting towards my direction. Everyone began running away, scurrying off to safety. The Ditto self destructed, with rock pavement flying into every direction and smog filled the air, which made it hard to see. After it cleared, both the two bad guys had disappeared and the Ditto was also missing. All there was left was a large ditch, which marked the location where Ditto had self-destructed. "Dammit." I hissed under my breath.

I couldn't help but keep thinking of what I could've done to prevent those bad guys from escaping that night, but Acel assured me that it was unavoidable. He said that at least no one was injured, we would be able to find them soon enough. Sally returned back to the Pokémon Center having missed the entire ruckus probably at Sabrina's. When she arrived, I was standing on the balcony of our room with Acel just chatting about the day.

TBC :)


End file.
